World Sphere - 3 - Abilities and Secrets

Chapter 3: Abilities and Secrets

I was excited to try out magic for the first time. In the morning, I raced out of the house to the only public bathhouse in Hen’s Hollow. I paid the old woman, who was the attendant and owner, three copper coins. This got me a hot bath, a cold shower rinse, and my clothes were washed with scented soap. It was a splurge on my part, but I knew that creating unlimited wealth was in my future. Typically, our family would spend two coppers for just a cold shower for all five of us once or twice a week.

I was the only person in the bathhouse this early, as most people showered in the evening before bed. I soaked in the large heated copper-lined tub as I tried to draw my aether to form copper. My aether core was still a bit tender, like constant heartburn. From my readings, I knew it would take many years to form completely and for the pain to subside. I think my pain was more intense than the books suggested. Or maybe I was just a wimp. I decided it would be worth it in the end. After all—I would have magic.

I eventually gave up trying to make a copper coin and scrubbed myself in the tub with a grainy soap and a soft bristle brush and asked the woman. “Edel, how long have you lived in Hen’s Hollow?” She stopped scrubbing my clothes to answer.

“Storme, I grew up in Haven’s Fjord but moved here with my husband some 30 years ago.” She paused, “If you have time later today, could you and Gareth make a run to the soaper in the city for me? I will give each of you a free cube and eight steel each.” She waited patiently for my reply. We had made runs to the city for her before and usually received about that amount, and we got a free cold rinse shower for our effort. I thought since I was going to the city later today, I should try to line up some other jobs and bring Gareth.

“Sounds good. How many blocks?” I replied, distracted by my thoughts. 

Edel replied with a sly smile, “Eight blocks, two hard soap, and six scented soap.” Damn, that was twice the normal haul. Each block weighed about five pounds and was cut into 64 cubes. Typically, I would have negotiated for more money before agreeing, but the idea of developing my magic clouded my mind.

I exited the tub and headed to the shower stalls for my rinse. There wasn’t a huge taboo on nudity, so I wasn’t surprised when Edel stood and walked around the screen to hand me a towel since there were none on the shelf this early. She returned to cleaning my clothes, smiling. My last growth spurt had me nearing six feet. If my foggy memory was correct, I would reach 6’3” when I finished growing. 

I took my cold rinse in the shower and went to get my clothes from Edel. Edel had an ability that allowed her to evaporate water quickly. It gave her a career drying plants for the herbalist and drying laundry in the bathhouse. Not a world-breaking skill, but she did well; her husband was a wood carver, but I rarely saw him around Hen’s Hollow.

“Storme, my lovely niece in the city, is turning 16 in two weeks. Would you be available to escort her to her coming-of-age party?” She asked sweetly. 

I felt my face flush reflexively, and I responded quickly, “Miss Edel, I must apologize, but I believe I will be engaged in other activities.” I rapidly took my clothes from her, dressed quickly, and left. I had too many things on my mind to be escorting a young woman to her coming-of-age party.

I went to the town commons, where there was a large water fountain with a lion, and sat on a stone bench. This square was where most town celebrations were held and it was currently empty. It was still early in the morning, and I sat and thought.

My first thought was how good my clothes smelled. Edel had used the vanilla soap on them as she must have remembered it was my favorite scent. Focus Storme. I needed to master my metal creation ability. I needed to purchase some spells. And lastly, I should go to the apothecary to see if they had something for my aether core heartburn. Or maybe not the last, as it would reveal I had awakened.

I pulled out a copper coin and tried to mentally duplicate it. No luck, but my metal-shaping ability cut the coin in half when I applied my will, creating two sharp-edged half coins. Well, I guess that counted as my first use of magic. Ok, maybe I should try without a coin in my hand. I focused on the idea of copper, its color, smell, and taste. I got a brief sense of vertigo and felt a lightweight enter my palm. I looked at a lump of copper metal in my hand.

Success? I turned the shiny orange-red lump in my hand…maybe an ounce? Now, I needed to make it into coins. I looked and didn’t see anyone nearby. I took a newer copper coin out of my pouch and studied it. One side had a triangle with images at each corner, a sword and shield, scales, and two men holding hands. The opposite side had the silhouette of the Skyholme palace, Skyhold, where the Triumvirate resided, and it had the date the coin was minted below. 

I studied the coin for twenty minutes before forcing my will and attention on the copper lump I had created. The lump flowed like water into ten identical coins in just a few seconds to match my mental image. I breathed heavily in excitement and a tiny bit of mental fatigue.

I was startled when the baker passed me with a sack of bread meant for the pub. I was sure he hadn’t seen my efforts, but I scolded myself for doing this in the open like an idiot, even though I hadn’t expected success so soon. My excitement was overcoming my common sense. My stomach was also roiling with hunger, so I followed the baker and the scent of fresh bread to the pub.

The pub had a few customers already. They usually served a worker’s breakfast of heavy white gravy with bread, a small bowl of boiled oats with heavy cream, and a weak ale for a copper coin in the morning. I ordered two servings and used two of my new copper coins to pay. The gravy didn’t agree with me, but the two bowls of oats and cream filled me. I didn’t like the weak ale either, as it tasted slightly sour. I left the pub to head to Gareth’s house.

This morning, I was to attend lessons with Gareth and six other children from our town, including my sister Freya. As I made my way to his house, I spotted Gareth outside, chopping firewood. Despite being younger than me, Gareth towered over me by four inches, his broad shoulders giving him a robust appearance. Gareth devoured three times what other kids ate, fueling his body, which was quickly transforming into a strong, muscular frame. In stark contrast, I looked down at my own lean physique, feeling a pang of envy at the sight of his growing muscles.

“Stormy!” He called when he noticed me walking toward him. Yeah, I hated that nickname. My mother had added the ‘e’ to my name to make it unique, and when Gareth and I were first learning letters, he pronounced the ‘e.’  He knew I didn’t like being called Stormy, but he continued to do so. However, if another kid called me Stormy, he made them stop by word, threat, or force. “Ready for numbers and transcription this morning?” he asked when I was within easy talking distance.

I was good at numbers. It was mostly basic arithmetic with some light word problems thrown in. Transcription was kind of boring. Each student spent time copying a book word for word. Gareth’s mother was a scribe and thought it a good way to learn the common language of the Sphere.

Well, at least the books were always stories of heroes, monsters, and faraway lands. The stories were usually parables teaching some ethical principles or moral lessons. “I bet I can finish the numbers before you today,” I replied with a smirk. Gareth knew he could not finish before me unless he wanted to get most of the answers wrong.

“Yeah, not a chance. How about we let Freya judge our script from the transcription?” His typical grin appeared on his face. My younger sister usually tagged along with us and was frequently called to choose a winner in our spur-of-the-moment competitions. She was mostly fair, but sometimes she got mad at me, which tilted the scales toward Gareth.

I shrugged in consent, and we went to the ad-hoc classroom inside his house. My sister Freya was there, and she gave me a cross-look. Oh shit! I forgot I had promised to take her to the baker for a breakfast cake this morning. I had promised her before bed last night but forgot after my core awakened.

Even though my script was neat and was at least equal to Gareth’s careful hand, I knew I had no chance of winning now. I had been played. Gareth’s grin only got bigger as we sat down.

The tiny woman who had somehow birthed the monster of Gareth entered, and the other kids took their seats. I raced through the numbers problems certain I hadn’t made any errors. We had twenty pages to transcribe today.

The story was part of the tale of Farrod the Warrior. He was a solo dungeon delver, and the tale focused on how his greed and lust for coin led him to an early grave. I put effort into my copying as the texts were eventually sold by Gareth’s mother for a small amount of coin to pay for her time.

She walked around the room and asked questions about the tale depending on where each student was in their transcription. It was to make sure we were reading and understanding the words and not just copying letters. Soon, she announced time was up, and the six of us got ready to sprint out of the room. Gareth hadn’t forgotten the bet and was whispering with Freya.

I walked to Freya to interrupt their conspiracy, “Freya, sorry about this morning. Here is a steel so you can get some honey suckers.” Gareth immediately looked betrayed, his grin fading, thinking I would now win.

Freya grabbed the coin from my hand and yelled, “Gareth’s letters were prettier.” She ran out the door. Gareth’s grin returned immediately. Shit, so much for bribery.

We turned and started to walk out together. Gareth put his hand on my shoulder as we walked. “What is on the list for today? Mother was hoping we could get some spiced sausages in the city that she likes for her today. She gave me a copper for four.” Gareth always had suggestions on things to do but always followed my lead.

“Well, I made a deal with the bathhouse lady to get soap in the city. But we will need our packs as it is eight blocks. I also wanted to show you something in private. Let’s go to the barn.” My parents’ house had a stable with two stalls, but we had no horses or farm animals. The space was more for storage now and a hangout for Gareth, me, and sometimes Freya. My older brother, Pascal, had his own group of friends that played with wooden swords all day, so the space was secure from intrusion.

Once we were secure in the building, I turned to Gareth, “It happened last night. My awakening.” It took a brief second for him to process before his eyes bulged.

Excitedly, he asked, “Can you do anything? Did any abilities manifest? Are you stronger? Faster? Can you throw lightning bolts? Fireballs?” Magic was rare, and abilities that utilized aether were a means to gain entrance to a better Academy.

“I can do a few things. But this will be the biggest secret I have ever shared with you. You cannot let anyone know, not even my parents. Agreed? Blood-bonded brothers?” I said it in an even and serious tone. Blood-bonded brothers was our oath to each other to never betray each other and come to each other’s aid if needed, no matter the circumstances.

“Blood bonded.” He said in all seriousness. He was rarely serious, so I nodded, accepting the oath.

“I can shape metal.” His left eyebrow cocked up, skepticism clearly etched on his face. I pulled a copper coin from my pouch and proceeded to shape it into a tiny cat figure, an ugly cat figure, but you could see it was a cat.

“Wow, a dog!” Gareth rasped out before collapsing in laughter when I announced it was a cat. It was a cat, damn it. He thought my failure at sculpting was more humorous than the enormity of the ability or the implications of my shape-metal ability. I quickly changed the CAT back to a coin and handed it to him. 

“Angelic saviors, Storme,” he muttered. Well, at least I knew he was serious, as he used my proper name when he was no longer joking. “You are not going to tell your parents?”

I shook my head no, “Not for a while. Father would probably force me to be a battle mage. Maybe I will tell them after I learn a few spells and get used to using my aether.” Gareth looked incredulous but accepted my decision with a nod.

A few moments later, Gareth said, “You have hundreds of paths ahead of you, my brother.” He was still examining the coin when I held up my empty palm, closed it, and opened it to reveal a lump of copper. Gareth partially collapsed to the ground. “Did you just? Is that real? You teleported it, right? Sleight of hand?” I just slowly shook my head. “You can create copper,” he paused, “Real copper? Is it temporary?” his voice was weak in disbelief.

I finally spoke, “It is real and permanent. And I think I might also be able to create other metals.” He was still in shock, so I gave him a few moments to recover before speaking again, “So now we need to start making plans.” He looked up at me, and our eyes met. We both had huge grins and started laughing in unison.